it only shows the video way off center and to the upper left
That looks to me like when the loaded video appears. i have that
The video player has a central purple box with black on both sides of the purple box
i cannot see a purple box with black sides?
The only part missing seems to me to be the large preview screen . Did you try this " Please try to go to Tools -> Preferences -> Playback Settings tab and select other video renderers" at http://www.solveigmm.com/forum/index.php?topic=4805.0
Is it an unusual video. google media info and see is it any different to other video